A car fire sparked a quick-moving brush fire in Palm Bay that threatened homes and evacuated a daycare Wednesday afternoon.

A car fire sparked a quick-moving brush fire in Palm Bay that threatened homes and evacuated a daycare Wednesday afternoon.

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Updated: 6:05 PM EST Nov 13, 2013

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WEBVTT THIS IS "WESH 2 NEWS AT 5" IN HIGH DEFINITION. 1 FIREFIGHTERS DOING THEIR BEST TO KEEP A BRUSH FIRE FROM BURNING HOMES. I'M JIM PAYNE. I'M MARTHA SUGALSKI. WHAT STARTED AS A CAR FIRE JUMPED TO THE WOODS ALONG I-95 AND QUICKLY SPREAD. THE FLAMES AT TIMES BURNING DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO HOMES IN PALM BAY A NEARBY DAYCARE HAS BEEN EVACUATED. VIEWERS SENT US THIS INCREDIBLE VIDEO FROM THE GROUND. YOU CAN HEAR THE EMERGENCY SIRENS RACING BY. FIRST ALERT CHIEF METEOROLOGIST TONY MAINOLFI WILL HAVE MORE ON THE WINDY CONDITIONS. BUT WE START WITH DAN BILLOW LIVE NEAR THE FIRE LINES. DAN, WHAT'S THE LATEST? IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE WINDS, MARTHA. THE FIRE WAS MOVING SO FAST THAT PEOPLE WERE VERY FRIGHTENED THAT THEY WOULD LOSE THEIR HOMES. FIREFIGHTERS ARE BACK IN THESE WOODS RIGHT HERE WHERE THE FIRE HAS BEEN STOPPED FOR THE TIME BEING. TWO DOZEN HOMES RIGHT AROUND HERE AND THE FOLKS WHO LIVE HERE ARE TELLING DRAMATIC STORIES. I WAS OUT IN MY YARD LOOKED UP AND THERE WAS JUST A WALL OF BLACK SMOKE. SO I HIGHTAILED DOWN HERE AND THE FIRE WAS HOPPING AND MOVING. 25-MILE-AN-HOUR WIND IT WAS COMING THROUGH LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN. IN THE GARDEN LAKES SUBDIVISION HOMEOWNERS TOLD US HOW CLOSE A CALL THEY'D HAD. YOU CAN TURN AROUND AND SEE IT IT'S BURNING ABOUT 50 FEET FROM US. ONE WOMAN FLAGGED DOWN A FIRE TRUCK WHEN A TREE BURST INTO FLAMES. THE FIRE HAD STARTED WHEN A VEHICLE CAUGHT FIRE NEARBY AND THE FLAMES IN CRACKLY DRY BRUSH WERE UNSTOPPABLE. NEIGHBOR SENT ME A TEXT FIRE. I RAN OUT AND THE FIREMEN DID A GREAT JOB. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. WE THOUGHT IT WAS OVER. AND SURE ENOUGH THEY LIT THE HOSES UP AND SAVED THIS PLACE. SO THE FIRE AGAIN IN THIS PARTICULAR SPOT HAS BURNED UP TO THE EDGE OF THE HOUSES. IT THEN JUMPED ABOUT HALF MILE BEHIND US. THEY PUT THAT PART OUT. THEY'VE CALLED THIS FIRE NOW STABILIZED OR CONTAINED. ALTHOUGH IT IS STILL BURNING AND, OF COURSE, THE WINDS ARE A BIG ISSUE. THE DAYCARE CENTER NEARBY WAS NOT IN GRAVE DANGER. BUT IT WAS EVACUATED AS A PRECAUTION.

Brush fire sparked by car fire on I-95

A car fire sparked a quick-moving brush fire in Palm Bay that threatened homes and evacuated a daycare Wednesday afternoon.